Muscles

I have just finished up with Traci.

I hit it hard with cardio, running for 20 minutes before I started with her. Then she had me do 5 minutes on the elliptical - at 6 miles an hour - which was dang hard. Then it was on to the stair stepper for 5. (I am training for a new fitness challenge that I will tell you about tomorrow.)

Now it was time to hit all the major muscle groups. Since I had legs like jelly after the cardio, Traci had me do abs first. She is always coming up with creative new ways to make crunches more challenging. Today it was using bands hooked to the wall for added tension. It was challenging.

In fact, at the end of the workout she was lamenting that perhaps she had been too easy on me. I admitted that everything else was getting easier, but informed her the abs were tough, she was pleased. And that's what I really like about having a personal trainer.

Traci looks at my fitness goals, does the research, tries the exercises and makes a plan for me. Every workout with her is different, I can go weeks without doing the exact same move with her. I will do crunches for example, but it's a different variation and they are constantly rotated, so I never get bored and neither do my muscles.

That's one of the keys to being able to build muscle continuously and make it tough - diversity. If you are doing the same thing over and over again, your muscle gets really good at it and then it requires less calories and effort for your body. So changing up your workout at minimum once every two weeks will keep you from getting bored and your body from becoming complacent.

It's so great to be able to walk into Fitness World West to see Traci and that planning is done for me. But if you are just starting out, you can use moves you learn from just about anywhere. One of my favorite places to cull from is Women's Health magazine. Wherever you get your exercises remember, don't over do it. And adding on muscle is a great way to burn more calories, even when you are just breathing.

Yours in fitness, Kate